This season will be different. Even if the Browns aren't good, they should at least be watchable. History suggests they will not go 0-16 for a second straight campaign.

The simplest element, naturally, is that Cleveland made an upgrade at quarterback. Jackson spent the fall repeatedly benching DeShone Kizer, only to subsequently stick with him through one of the worst seasons in recent league history. Among passers who threw 300 times or more since the merger, Kizer's adjusted net yards per pass attempt index (ANY/A+) of 68 is the fourth-worst over nearly 50 years of football.

As the first overall draft pick, Baker Mayfield has a significantly better pedigree than Kizer. He projects to be a better passer than Kizer, a second-round pick in 2017 NFL draft. The Browns also have a useful bridge quarterback in Tyrod Taylor, whose most significant skill -- protecting the football -- is the simplest path for how the Browns are likely to improve.

Kizer threw 22 interceptions last season. Six of those picks came in the red zone, which is an astronomical figure; no other quarterback in the league threw more than three interceptions in the red zone in 2017. Taylor coughed up a red-zone interception just three times over his  three years with the Bills. Mayfield had only three of them across 40 games at Oklahoma.

It would be a near-impossibility for the Browns to be as bad with turnovers as they were a year ago, both inside and outside the 20. Cleveland posted a turnover margin of minus-28, comfortably the worst in the league. You might not want to hear this if you think that smart teams win the turnover margin year after year, but it's an inconsistent stat from season to season.

Since the league went to 32 teams in 2002, the teams that finished dead last in turnover margin in a given year posted an average margin of minus-20. The following year, those same teams posted a  positive turnover margin, averaging a mark of just under plus-three. The teams improved by an average of 3.6 wins. If you're this bad at turning the ball over, a combination of luck and offseason investment tends to flip your margin the following season. The Browns had the league's fifth-worst fumble recovery rate (totally random) and replaced a historically sloppy quarterback with the league's safest pair of hands.

It's reminiscent of what new general manager John Dorsey did in Kansas City, where he inherited a Chiefs team that went 2-14 and finished the 2012 season with a turnover margin of minus-20. Dorsey replaced the combo of Matt Cassel and Brady Quinn -- who combined for 20 picks -- by trading for 49ers passer Alex Smith. The Chiefs were likely to improve the following season, and they flipped their turnover margin from minus-20 to plus-18 while jumping to 11-5.